THE death of Hugh Milling at the tragically early age of 40 greatly shocked and saddened his friends in Irish cricket. Hugh was a big, beefy quick bowler with plenty of talent but injuries and career conspired to ensure we never saw just how good he could have been.

Hugh was born on 4 September 1962 in Carrickfergus and spent his early years in the North. He finished his secondary education in the Marist College, Athlone before entering Trinity. It took him a couple of years to get onto the first XI - he had yet to harness accuracy to his raw pace - but when he did in 1982 and 1983 he was very successful, taking 32 wickets at 22 in 18 games. The best of his college cricket was probably seen in the Intervarsity tournaments and he was a regular scourge of Queen's in particular. He did his Hdip at UU and also played senior cricket for NICC.

His friends from those days remembered him last week as word spread of his death:

"I knew Hugh well in his cricketing prime: not the most appetising sight for a batsman inside the nets as took his delivery stride. I am very sorry to hear the news." - Mike Harrison

"I will always remember with great fondness the evenings spent in the Pav telling him what a crap bowler he was - this used to irritate him very successfully. Perhaps the most memorable of these was the night when we challenged Graham Pasley's Guinness-fuelled assertion that he could do wheelies on his bicycle up Grafton Street. Paz went for it, very successfully as it happens, the only problem being that a Garda booked him for being drunk in charge of a bike. Well, we thought it was funny. Hugh was actually a bloody good bowler. Had he worked harder on his game in those early years I am certain that he would have cut the mustard at a higher level." - Barney Spender

"He was a good man to face in the indoor nets because you never had a clue where the ball was going, so there was no chance of a mishit. I seem to recall Spender frequently shouting "well left!" from the other end." - Quentin Letts

"I played 1s and 2s cricket with Hugh - a big man, with a big heart and a huge appetite for getting batters hopping around, which he usually managed to do. He had a steepling throat ball, a huge amount of energy, a deep desire to be able to bat himself and an absolute crusher of a handshake or back-slap if he was in the mood for a bit of horse-play, which was frequent. I remember John Prior and he having a right old ding-dong at indoor nets, when they were both far too quick to face in all honesty, and also a match in Phoenix when Lynguard Goulding stood up to Hugh when keeping. I'm not sure who was the more annoyed - the opening batsman or Hugh himself, at this insult to his pace and bounce (in fairness, it was a soft track). He was a top man, lovely big messer and it's a sad loss at such a young age of a man that all who knew will remember with great affection." - Colm Magee

Hugh spent the rest of his Dublin summers with Phoenix for whom he was a potent strike bowler and Guinness Cup wickets for North Leinster got him onto the Ireland team for the 1985 tour of England. His début at Arundel saw him take 3-61 and his victims included test batsman Peter Willey and county pros Keith Brown and Nigel Briers. His pace was often good enough to beat some quality batsmen and his 49 wickets for Ireland included 15 test players including Willey twice, Mansoor Elahi, Mudassar Nazar, Shoaib Mohammed, Wayne Larkins and Graeme Hick. He was one of the attack in Harare Sports Club in 1986 that suffered at the hands of Hick, returning figures of 27.2-1-131-3 as the Zimbabwe XI racked up 517.

Hugh played 24 games for Ireland between 1985 and 1988 and was surprisingly, and unsuccessfully, recalled for two games against Barbados in 1993.

Milling's finest hour for Ireland was arguably the 1986 NatWest match at Grace Road when he took 4-63 off his 12 overs, as the county racked up 305-5. He took 'four-for' on three other occasions for Ireland.

Last summer he wrote a short note to the CricketIreland website: "Just to say hello to all my friends in Irish cricket from the 80's. I enjoy the website greatly. "

Hugh had been teaching in the north-west of England since the late '80s, playing for several clubs in the highly rated Central Lancashire Leagues. In 1994 he took 7-118 for Shaw against Hollinwood and last season summer played with Werneth. A note on the club website reported that "Werneth opening bowler Hugh Milling has undergone similar treatment on his long standing knee injury. The first part has been a success, however Hugh requires more surgery and it does likely that he will have the treatment sometime during next Summer."

Hugh was a teacher - and master-in-charge of cricket - at Hulme Grammar School for Boys near Manchester and it was on a school trip to Austria that he died on Monday night. He leaves a wife, Donna, and son Kieran. Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

Career Figures
Ireland (1985-93)  26 matches, 53 runs at 4.42;   49 wickets at 32.73, 10 catches
Trinity (1981-83)  19 matches, 104 runs at 10.40; 32 wickets at 22.91, 8 catches